CKD associates with systemic inflammation, but the underlying cause is unknown. Here, we investigated the involvement of intestinal microbiota. We report that collagen type 4 α3-deficient mice with Alport syndrome-related progressive CKD displayed systemic inflammation, including increased plasma levels of pentraxin-2 and activated antigen-presenting cells, CD4 and CD8 T cells, and Th17- or IFNγ-producing T cells in the spleen as well as regulatory T cell suppression. CKD-related systemic inflammation in these mice associated with intestinal dysbiosis of proteobacterial blooms, translocation of living bacteria across the intestinal barrier into the liver, and increased serum levels of bacterial endotoxin. Uremia did not affect secretory IgA release into the ileum lumen or mucosal leukocyte subsets. To test for causation between dysbiosis and systemic inflammation in CKD, we eradicated facultative anaerobic microbiota with antibiotics. This eradication prevented bacterial translocation, significantly reduced serum endotoxin levels, and fully reversed all markers of systemic inflammation to the level of nonuremic controls. Therefore, we conclude that uremia associates with intestinal dysbiosis, intestinal barrier dysfunction, and bacterial translocation, which trigger the state of persistent systemic inflammation in CKD. Uremic dysbiosis and intestinal barrier dysfunction may be novel therapeutic targets for intervention to suppress CKD-related systemic inflammation and its consequences.

Endothelial dysfunction is a central pathomechanism in diabetes-associated complications. We hypothesized a pathogenic role in this dysfunction of cathepsin S (Cat-S), a cysteine protease that degrades elastic fibers and activates the protease-activated receptor-2 (PAR2) on endothelial cells. We found that injection of mice with recombinant Cat-S induced albuminuria and glomerular endothelial cell injury in a PAR2-dependent manner. In vivo microscopy confirmed a role for intrinsic Cat-S/PAR2 in ischemia-induced microvascular permeability. In vitro transcriptome analysis and experiments using siRNA or specific Cat-S and PAR2 antagonists revealed that Cat-S specifically impaired the integrity and barrier function of glomerular endothelial cells selectively through PAR2. In human and mouse type 2 diabetic nephropathy, only CD68 + intrarenal monocytes expressed Cat-S mRNA, whereas Cat-S protein was present along endothelial cells and inside proximal tubular epithelial cells also. In contrast, the cysteine protease inhibitor cystatin C was expressed only in tubules. Delayed treatment of type 2 diabetic db/db mice with Cat-S or PAR2 inhibitors attenuated albuminuria and glomerulosclerosis (indicators of diabetic nephropathy) and attenuated albumin leakage into the retina and other structural markers of diabetic retinopathy. These data identify Cat-S as a monocyte/macrophage-derived circulating PAR2 agonist and mediator of endothelial dysfunction-related microvascular diabetes complications. Thus, Cat-S or PAR2 inhibition might be a novel strategy to prevent microvascular disease in diabetes and other diseases.

Interferon (IFN)-α and IFN-β are the central regulators of antiviral immunity but little is known about their roles in viral glomerulonephritis (eg, HIV nephropathy). We hypothesized that IFN-α and IFN-β would trigger local inflammation and podocyte loss. We found that both IFNs consistently activated human and mouse podocytes and parietal epithelial cells to express numerous IFN-stimulated genes. However, only IFN-β significantly induced podocyte death and increased the permeability of podocyte monolayers. In contrast, only IFN-α caused cell-cycle arrest and inhibited the migration of parietal epithelial cells. Both IFNs suppressed renal progenitor differentiation into mature podocytes. In Adriamycin nephropathy, injections with either IFN-α or IFN-β aggravated proteinuria, macrophage influx, and glomerulosclerosis. A detailed analysis showed that only IFN-β induced podocyte mitosis. This did not, however, lead to proliferation, but was associated with podocyte loss via podocyte detachment and/or mitotic podocyte death (mitotic catastrophe). We did not detect TUNEL-positive podocytes. Thus, IFN-α and IFN-β have both common and differential effects on podocytes and parietal epithelial cells, which together promote glomerulosclerosis by enhancing podocyte loss while suppressing podocyte regeneration from local progenitors.

In eukaryotic cells, activation of phospholipase C (PLC)-coupled membrane receptors by hormones leads to an increase in the intracellular Ca2+ concentration [Ca2+]i. Catalytic activity of PLCs results in the hydrolysis of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate to generate inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) and diacylglycerol (DAG) which opens DAG-sensitive classical transient receptor channels 3, 6, and 7 (TRPC3/6/7), initiating Ca2+ influx from the extracellular space. Patients with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) express gain-of-function mutants of TRPC6, while others carry loss-of-function mutants of PLCε, raising the intriguing possibility that both proteins interact and might work in the same signalling pathway. While TRPC6 activation by PLCβ and PLCγ isozymes was extensively studied, the role of PLCε in TRPC6 activation remains elusive. TRPC6 was co-immunoprecipitated with PLCε in a heterologous overexpression system in HEK293 cells as well as in freshly isolated murine podocytes. Receptor-operated TRPC6 currents in HEK293 cells expressing TRPC6 were reduced by a specific PLCε siRNA and by a PLCε loss-of-function mutant isolated from a patient with FSGS. PLCε-induced TRPC6 activation was also identified in murine embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) lacking Gαq/11 proteins. Further analysis of the signal transduction pathway revealed a Gα12/13 Rho-GEF activation which induced Rho-mediated PLCε stimulation. Therefore, we identified a new pathway for TRPC6 activation by PLCε. PLCε-/- podocytes however, were undistinguishable from WT podocytes in their angiotensin II-induced formation of actin stress fibers and their GTPγS-induced TRPC6 activation, pointing to a redundant role of PLCε-mediated TRPC6 activation at least in podocytes.